Namaste.
Welcome to your Yoga Nidra practice.
My name is Danya and I will be guiding you on this journey.
Make yourself comfortable,
Lying on your back,
Legs extended,
Feet relaxed,
Arms resting slightly away from the body,
Palms turned upward.
Close your eyes.
Make any small adjustments you need to be completely at ease.
Feel the support of the ground beneath you.
Your body in contact with the surface below.
Feel into the outer layer of your physical body.
Take three slow,
Full breaths.
Invite your muscles to grow softer.
With each exhale,
Feel your body melt deeper into the earth.
Throughout this practice,
Try to keep your mind aware and your body soft and restful.
Now it's time to set your intention.
Invite your deepest heartfelt desire to come to the surface.
Your sankalpa is a powerful seed that can be used for transformation and healing.
It is a simple,
Positive affirmation that you'd like to bring more of into your life.
Repeat it three times,
Softly,
And let it settle.
Planting it within the generative space of your heart.
Invite your body to settle into stillness.
We will begin with our awareness in the physical body and then move into the more subtle layers.
If your mind wanders,
Just allow your awareness to be guided back by my voice.
The practice of yoga nidra begins now.
Begin by bringing your awareness to your physical body and a maya kosha.
Feel the weight of your bones,
The warmth of your skin,
The rhythm of your breath.
Your body taking up space on the earth beneath you.
Sense the gentle rise and fall of the breath through your body.
We will now rotate our consciousness slowly through each part of the body.
Bring your awareness to your right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Right palm,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Right waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Back of the head,
Back of the knee,
Calf,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot,
Big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
Little toe.
Bring your awareness to your left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Left palm,
Back of the hand,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Shoulder,
Armpit,
Left waist,
Hip,
Thigh,
Back of the knee,
Calf,
Ankle,
Heel,
Sole of the foot,
Top of the foot.
Big toe,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
Little toe.
Bring your awareness to the back of your head,
Crown,
Forehead,
Right temple,
Left temple,
Right ear,
Left ear,
Right cheek,
Left cheek,
Tip of the nose,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Chin,
Jaw,
Throat,
Right collarbone,
Left collarbone,
Center of the chest,
Upper belly,
Lower belly,
Pelvis,
Whole right leg,
Whole left leg,
Both legs together,
Whole right arm,
Whole left arm,
Both arms together,
Whole front body,
Whole back body,
Whole body,
Whole body,
Whole body.
Shift your awareness inward.
Feel the subtle vibrations of pranamaya kosha,
Your energy,
Your energy body.
Here lives your breath,
Your vitality,
The currents of prana flowing through you.
Bring awareness to your natural breath.
Notice where you feel it most vividly.
Nostrils,
Chest,
Belly,
Sense it circulating through your whole body.
Feel each inhale as nourishment,
Each exhale as release.
Bring your attention to your left nostril.
Imagine your inhale traveling only through the left side.
Cool,
Fresh air moving into your body.
Now visualize the exhale flowing out through your right nostril.
Warm,
Soft air leaving the body.
Imagine your mind following the air's path out.
Breathe in through the right nostril.
Only sensing the air as clear,
Bright energy entering the body.
Visualize the breath leaving gently through the left nostril.
Taking with it any mental clutter.
Breathe in through the left nostril.
Feel it expand and soften your whole torso.
Visualize the breath leaving gently through the right.
Inhale right.
Exhale left.
Inhale left.
Exhale right.
Inhale left.
Continue this mental Nadi Shodhana breathing for another four rounds.
Let each breath be even and unhurried.
As you visualize,
Sense your mind and body syncing with this rhythm.
Like two rivers flowing in harmony.
And coming back to your natural breath.
Now we enter the realm of thoughts and feeling,
Manomaya Kosha,
Which is the mental body and central nervous system.
Here,
We invite our thoughts to drift like clouds passing over the screen of our mind.
Imagine your mind as a clear,
Open sky.
Thoughts may pass,
Memories,
Plans,
Images.
But you need not follow them.
Allow whatever arises to be present.
Without resistance,
Allowing thoughts to be carried away like ripples on water.
Begin to feel warmth spread throughout your body.
Now imagine coolness washing over you.
Feel heaviness pulling you deep into the earth.
Then lightness as if you are floating in space.
Sense comfort wrapping around you like a cozy blanket.
Then discomfort,
Just for a moment before returning to ease.
Each shift to opposite sensation teaches the mind to be free.
To simply observe without clinging to pleasant sensations or pushing away less desirable sensations.
Drift now into Vijnanamaya Kosha,
The layer of insight and intuition.
Here resides your inner witness.
The part of you that is always aware.
Visualize yourself seated beside a peaceful lake at dawn.
The surface is perfectly calm,
Reflecting the sky.
Notice how awareness itself is like deep water.
Ripples of sensation,
Thought and emotion come and go but do not disturb the water.
Silently affirm,
I am not my body.
I am not my thoughts.
I am not my emotions.
I am the witness of all experience.
Rest in the quiet presence of your detached inner witness.
Knowing and serene.
We arrive at the final Kosha,
Anandamaya,
The inner most sheath,
The bliss body,
Your soul.
This is your center of profound peace and joy that exists beneath all doing.
Imagine you are bathed in a warm golden light.
This light fills you,
Dissolving boundaries.
This light fills you with peace and connecting you to all that is.
Only stillness.
Only presence.
Only bliss.
Feel into all aspects of your being,
Connected as a unified whole.
Underlying the restless mind is pure,
Undivided consciousness.
With a still mind,
We are closest to our true nature,
As inseparable from the universe and all of its divinity.
Now let your awareness begin to expand from the inside out.
Sensing the light inside you growing brighter.
Expanding beyond the borders of your body.
Sense how your breath is a current,
Carrying life force energy through your entire body.
Inhale,
Drawing your breath from the tips of your toes to the crown of your head.
And as you exhale,
Send the breath down into the earth below.
I will leave you here.
Please take as much time as you need.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
